David W. Clark to serve as commencement speaker for Evangel

Evangel University will celebrate its 54th annual graduation ceremony on Friday, May 4, 2012, at 9:30 a.m.

Dr. David W. Clark, retired president of Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla., will serve as the commencement speaker.

As a member of Evangel’s class of 1962, Clark will be celebrating his own 50th anniversary as a graduate. He has spent his career in the fields of higher education and communication, and currently serves as president of Media Analysts, an organizational and media consultant firm in Texas.

This year, 465 students will participate in the ceremony, which be held in the main sanctuary at James River Assembly of God in Ozark, Mo. Doors will open at 8 a.m.

The total includes traditional, graduate, professional studies and James River Leadership Campus students.

“It is always a pleasure to have outstanding alumni return and participate in our commencement activities,” said President Robert H. Spence. “I am confident that Dr. Clark will give our students and their families an inspirational and challenging message.”

The prayer of invocation will be offered by alumnus Dr. David DeGarmo, president of American Indian College in Phoenix, Ariz. He is a 1980 graduate of Evangel and father of 2012 EU graduate Kristin Renae DeGarmo.

Dr. G. Robert Cook, Jr., president of the Alliance for Assemblies of God Higher Education in Springfield, Mo., will provide the Scripture reading.

The prayer of benediction will be offered by Dr. Bill Kirsch, director of Africa’s Hope which is based out of Springfield, Mo. He is the father of 2012 EU graduate Megan Lara Kirsch, magna cum laude.

About the speaker

In 2009, Clark retired from his position as the sixth president of Palm Beach Atlantic University. During his six-year tenure at the university, enrollment increased more than 20 percent to 3,291 fulltime students, four new buildings were completed including a 66,000-sq.-ft. library, and 96 acres of land were acquired for future expansion.

Clark was a tenured professor of broadcasting on the graduate faculty of Bowling Green State University in Ohio when he was asked to serve as co-founder of Regent University in Virginia Beach in 1978. He later served as Regent’s dean of the College of Communication and the Arts for five years, during which time he led the launch of the university’s first Ph.D. program

Between Regent and PBA, Clark served as the president of FamilyNet, a commercial television network providing a variety of family-oriented entertainment and inspirational programs.

Simultaneously, he also served as vice president of the Broadcast Communications Group for the North American Missions Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he was responsible for the production and distribution of all radio and television programming in North America.

Clark has been a member of the board of the National Religious Broadcasters for more than 30 years. In 2009, the NRB presented him with the William Ward Ayers Outstanding Lifetime Service Award.

A prolific writer, his articles and essays have appeared in a variety of publications dealing with ethical and effective use of broadcast media.

In demand for public appearances, he has spoken throughout the U.S. and in more than 50 countries. A native of Chicago, Clark lived in Latin America as a child.

He earned a B.A. from Evangel (then College) in 1962, and has since been honored with EU’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1983 and with the Evangel Social Science Department’s Regius Award in 1998.

Clark holds an M.Div. from Northern Baptist Seminary, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.

He lives near Fort Worth, Texas, with his wife, Lois. They have two adult sons, one adult daughter and four grandchildren.

About Evangel

Evangel is an accredited, liberal arts university with more than 100 academic programs on the cutting edge of today's professional fields. Our commitment to the integration of faith, learning and life attracts students from a wide variety of Christian denominational backgrounds who have a strong commitment to academics with a desire to combine their Christian faith with every aspect of their lives.